The Collinsport Chronicles XXXVI: The Ronin
by Maryland Rose
Summary: There is a secret about the vampires' origin. One that may doom Richard Zimmerman, Julia's cousin
1. Chapter 1

Violet is dead, shot by the sheriff after she tried to kill her sister Iris, Tammy, and Joe, who were celebrating their engagement. Richard, Julia's cousin was captured by other vampires who will try him on the charge of trying to recruit them for a spy agency. Quentin is looking for Adam

* * *

THE RONIN

Chapter 1

"Iris will be all right." Kenneth said softly to Julia. "She will need to stay in the hospital for a while, but she will make it."

Julia nodded, not truly interested.

"Vicky agreed to watch over Peter until Iris is ready to come home again. She thinks that she can handle it. She is in touch with Peter's previous therapist, Audrey Morton, and also with Jessica King. They think that the can handle him"

Julia nodded again. She did not hear him, Kenneth realized. Her mind was consumed with thought of Richard.

Wherever they kept him, Richard was now pleading for his life.

He might not plead well enough.

He wondered how vampires executed one of their own. Did they have any kind of a ceremony? Some sort of priest? Did they ask for any last requests?

He might find out soon. And what it would to do Julia then... Julia and her child. Barnabas said he wanted to help, and Megan had volunteered as a lawyer, in spite of her having helped abduct Richard... But what good could they do?

* * *

Richard sat, smoking a cigarette. in the cell where he was kept. There was a chain in his ankle, a specially treated metal that kept him from shape shifting or vanishing. Evidently he was not the first one held here for trial and execution. He wonder what the others in this cell had been charged with, and how it had gone for them.

He knew what the charges were, and what little chance he had to beat them.

He was innocent, but what proof could he offer of it? Ordinarily the burden of proof was on the prosecution side. But that was in the US legal system. Here the rules were different.

And when he thought of what was involved, he did not blame them. He had once lived by the same rules... he had killed by the same rules... It was not a question of guilt or innocence but whether you could allow somebody to live. And it was better not to take risks. War is Hell, after all, even a secret war carried out by the intelligence services...

And now he was facing a similar judgment, a very similar logic, and he could find no fault with it.

If only Julia had not been present. If she had not know what had happened to him...

He wondered how she was doing. Not well. Maybe later she would recover, but not after he had been executed, after she had resigned herself to it and forgotten the worst of it...

Maybe it was better for Julia's sake that he did not fight it. That it was over as soon as possible...

Death came to all, sooner or later. And for him it was later than most. He had not realized it until he had seen the white hairs in Julia. He should be an old man. He was not. He had survived when most of the people he knew had been swallowed up by a man-made monster. Why go on:? There might be no place for him in the world, anyway.

And maybe, once he was dead, he would meet Cosmo again, and would get to tell him how sorry he was.

"You got a visitor, Zimmerman." His jailer said. His jailer, a little boy of nine who could kill you without blinking.

It was not Julia, as he had feared. - Julia would be capable of browbeating and demanding and banging on doors until she saw Richard again. But not now. - It was Barnabas.

Barnabas looked so dejected that you would think that he was the one under a capital indictment.

"How are they treating you?" Barnabas asked.

"Not bad. I am quite comfortable, and I have known worse accommodations. Also there is a postponement at the request of my lawyer."

"You got a lawyer?" Somehow this surprised Barnabas. Yet, why should it? Vampires were recruited from all walks of life, and some lawyer might have become infected... But of course, a lawyer who could not wriggle out of trouble would not be a very skilful one...

"Ms. Graham. She self-appointed herself as my counsel. She says that she is trying to retrace my routes, and see if my presence was followed by any recruitment by the Mossad. "

"And she found anything?"

"She needs to find nothing. She needs to show that wherever I went I did not seek to make contact with any other vampires, or that was even unaware of their presence."

"She is trying to prove a negative." He knew how tough that was.

"Yes. "

"And you are innocent."

"Of this charge, yes. I never delivered anyone to be recruited by the Mossad.. But I am quite guilty of other things...In the life I chose I had to make a lot of unpleasant decisions, and I made them... as unpleasant as the one they will make about me."

"But you did not do what they accuse you of. You did not come to Collinsport to recruit anyone."

"No. I was not. But even if I was doing it, I'd still deny it... For the record, I wanted a new start. I waned to see if there was more to life than killing for Eretz Israel, that there was more to me than being a Holocaust survivor..."

"Maybe you could convince them."

"I would not convince myself. I know how hopeless it is. Megan is trying, and maybe she will feel less guilty when it is finished. She needs to think that she is helping, and that Julia may forgive her. I told her to get out of town before Julia starts looking for her with a stake and hammer... Some things cannot be fixed."

"Have you given up?" Barnabas looked sick as he said it.

"They should have killed me outright." he grimaced. "Better for everybody. Better of Julia."

"How could it be better for Julia?"

"If I had been killed then, by now she'd be done with crying and would start accepting it. And then she'd eventually get back to normal. Instead she is being fed hope that will eventually be betrayed. And the longer it takes, the worse it will be."

"They could still believe you."

"And water could flow backwards. They'll never believe me. I know the way these decisions are made... How's Julia doing?"

"She's holding on."

"The baby all right?"

"Yes. No problems there."

"There might be if she keeps suffering from stress. Does she have problems with her husband?"

"They seem somewhat estranged."

"Figures. I was Julia's first great love. She feels that she has somewhat betrayed me by marrying Kenneth.. What about you? Has she forgiven you?""

"No. It was _my_ party, under _my_ roof. She believes that I was in on it. I tried to convince her, but she won't believe me." There was desolation in Barnabas' voice, as he contemplated the possible end of that friendship.

"Did the matter of the Woodman arise between you to?"

"Not explicitly. Not yet." Barnabas was amazed at Richard's perception. "But it will come out soon. And when that happens... I offered her to resign if she was uncomfortable having me around... But I guess that she is more comfortable to have me where she can yell at me"

"Does she yell at you now?"

"Yes."

"So you see why I have to be executed quickly with a minimum of fuss.."

'You cannot want that."

"No. I don't I would like to go free. But that's not likely to happen. Even if I escaped (and I toyed with the idea) they'd hunt me down, and when they caught me, they will not capture me, they'd just kill me. No, better to have a clean end for it. I don't think that they make my death a lingering one."

Barnabas shook his head.

"There is no other solution. That's why I try to tell Ms. Graham to stop playing Perry Mason and that she bow to the inevitable. She does not need to ease her conscience by acting as my lawyer."

"She wants to."

"But I don't want her to!"

"But you are innocent."

"Innocent., guilty... those are just words in my world. I may be innocent of this, I am guilty of other things, and I might well deserve death for them."

Barnabas dropped his head in his hands... "It cannot be. You must live,,, you must!"

"It can't be. Why not just let it happen?"

"Because I can't. Because Julia is my dearest friend, and she hates me for this..."

"For Julia's sake, you should let me die in peace."

* * *

"You are leaving town?" George asked Megan.

"I have to. Julia will kill me if I stay. Or she will force me to kill her in self-defense. Oh, I will remain in touch, but you better not let it be known that you can get me. "

"I will miss you."

"I will miss you too, and all the friends I made here. But that's what being a vampire means. Having to leave in a hurry, and drop off the grid in a New York minute... Barnabas does not understand it yet... There is much that he does not know... or hopes never to know... I would worry about the Mossad getting to him, but he is such a klutz that they will not recruit him. Just mention that my instructions to him in my operations was 'keep out of it or I'll hurt you bad." They can figure out why."

"He's going through a bad tine."

"Yes. And he may need some though love. I was the one who kept him in line regularly, locking him in his coffin and lecturing him when he made a bad decisions. The job now falls to you. Do not be gentle if you do. It takes a two by four to get his attention when he is in a mood like this."

"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Funny thing that happened at the party, wasn't it?" Patterson said.

"I would not call it funny. Not with the results." George answered bitterly.

"I know... She was an escaped mental patient, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"Doctor Hoffman keeps losing patients, doesn't she? Like when Maggie Evans came back on her own from Wyncliffe. And that was only the start, but a lot of that stuff was after I left. I did not have to be the one to tell her to tighten security at that place of hers. It is not my responsibility anymore."

"I have to deal with it. And it is not that often. The orderly was careless, and I imagine that he will be reprimanded, and might even get fired." An ugly idea came to his head, about Barnabas, but he did not show to Patterson. Plenty of time before sundown to do something abut it. "and Wyncliffe has not had an escape for a long time."

"This one did damage enough." Patterson was cynical enjoying George's evident discomfort. "But the way, what about the other trouble?"

"What other trouble?"

"That cousin of Doctor Hoffman's"

"He got drunk and abusive and had to be hustled off."

"Only that?" Patterson was scornful.

"No more."

Patterson grinned. "Of course, you know the real story, but you won't tell me."

George did not answer.

"After all, Barnabas is a Collins. It is their town. And they never let you forget who owns it. I got plenty of dressing downs from Roger, in my day. Now, Roger is a shadow of his former self, but his niece has the whip hand."

"It is not that." George felt suddenly uncomfortable.

"It does not matter. It is something you have to live with. I did for many years, until I had enough. I tried to stand on my own, and that bitch Elizabeth backed Davenport to run against me and take me down... I should have kept kissing her ring and I would have had the job forever. I take that you kiss the junior bitch's ring, now."

"She... she does not have the influence she once had. The Davenport Center means that she is not the only employer in town, so she has to tread more carefully."

"Yeah... But still you do not dare confront her.,,, Oh, well, I am out of it now. I am retired and investing in a business of my own."

George, who knew whose money had gone into Patterson's ventures did not comment on it. "I hope that you are lucky with it," he permitted himself to say.

"Why? Are you worried you won't see your money again?"

* * *

Zoya looked at the hand in the cabinet. With that hand she could defeat Hallie. She had only to use it properly.

The question was, when would she get to use it properly? She knew how to do it, as she had watched others use it. But it would require time, concentration, and most important, solitude..

She had to get it away, as Magda Rakosi had done. Only she was lucky to have Adam as the scapegoat. She had to get Adam to steal the hand for her.

* * *

"I know that you hate me now, Julia "Barnabas said to her."

Julia only glared at him.

"All I can tell you is that I knew nothing of it. You know that Megan always keeps me in the dark."

"It was your house where it happened. You provided the opportunity."

"Also the opportunity for Violet to try to kill Iris and Tammy and Joe."

"And you refuse to do anything for him."

"No much that I can do. Megan is acting as his lawyer. She thinks that she may get him off."

"Ha! I can't even visit him."

"You are pregnant. He does not want you there. The risk is too great. Someone may take a nip at you, and then your child would be in danger."

"I want Richard back. I want them to set him free."

"There is nothing that I can do."

"Can't or won't?"

Julia turned her back on him, and he felt the anguish mount in him. If she turned against him... if all their friendship ended here... if he had to watch her fall to pieces, and be unable to help...

There was a burning inside him. Pain, as he had not known, and emptiness that engulfed him. And anger, unreasoning anger.

He moved along, not sure where he wanted to go, what he wanted to do... he just wanted the pain to end.

He found himself facing Jake.

"Are you planning to resign?" he asked her in a deceptively mild way.

"Because I got careless with Mrs. Upton?"

"You did not get careless. You deliberately allowed her to escape, so that she could punish Tammy and Joe for you."

"Hey, man, that's crazy."

"Are you going to tell me that it is not true? Really? Do you know what Mrs. Upton said, just before Sheriff Brant shot her? That she was going to punish Tammy for turning you down. That she and Joe deserved what they were going to get because the way they treated you."

Jake backed down, suddenly scared. He could sense the menace in Barnabas' even if his words were still soft.

"I guess that you are tired of living, then." Barnabas said, moving closer.

"No! I am not!"

"Too bad. Did you not think that I might get angry at that? That I might want an accounting of your? That I would want to kill you?"

"You wouldn't"

"Wouldn't" He lifted Jake by his clothes so that his feet no longer touched the ground. "I have killed better men than you, Jake. If I can live with that knowledge, how much easier would be to live with having killed the man who tried to hurt my daughter? I can kill you and bury you in secret. Everyone would think that you ran way... "He put his hand on Jake's neck. "A man's neck breaks so easily... Shall I show you how easily?"

"Hey, man! You owe me! I stopped Roger from killing you!:

Barnabas stopped for a few seconds, then began pulling his teeth back. Jake screamed.

The door opened and Brant came in.

Barnabas dropped Jake to the floor.

"Jake Ryan, I am arresting you for knowingly aiding and abetting the escape of Mrs. Violet Upton, an act that led to the attempted murder of Mrs. Iris White."

Jake let himself be handcuffed and led outside. Barnabas looked at George, wondering what he had seen, and why he had not commented about it.

George took him outside to his car, where Megan was waiting.

"I was right." he said. "Barnabas went for him."

"Did you say anything to him?'

'No. What needs to be said. I will say tomorrow, when I lecture him. You were right. He needs tough love."

"Yes. I can understand why he feels this way. But he can become a danger to others as well as himself"

George nodded.

"What will you do with Jake?"

"What Barnabas did to Willie Loomis in 1967. Not for me, I know somebody who needs a good caretaker. He is a sensible man and will not be brutal with Jake." she touched him, and Jake flinched. "But he will be on probation for a while. Too bad about you. You could have been a therapist, as you wanted. But you threw it away. Do not bemoan your fate. You could have ended up dead or in jail for what you did. This may be a fresh start for you., if you have learned your lesson."

"You mean to work for one of... one of you?"

"Yes, guarding the coffin for a vampire, and running errands for him. Better than being killed by Barnabas, don't you think? Yes, he will put you under his control for quite a while. You are not trustworthy... and don't protest, you have proven that you are not."

"No! Not thatt!"

Megan shrugged "I guess you want it the hard way." She pulled him to her side, and pulled his head so that his neck was extended. In spite of his screams he bit into him hard. He fought her until she got control of him. Then he calmed down, and sat back whimpering.

"Well... that is done.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

George wondered about Patterson. He was acting cocky again, and a bit abusive. Not much, as he did not seem willing yet to antagonize his money supply.

If Patterson pushed him too far, then he'd expose him as a blackmailer. Never mind that his own secret would come out.

He wondered if now was the time for it, what with the problem with Barnabas... Well, not now. But he would stand up to Patterson when things were easier... and before Barnabas decided to solve the problem himself.

Well, he had stopped Barnabas from killing Jake. And while the sun shone there was no danger of his trying to kill anyone else, no matter how they deserved it. And come dusk, he had a speech ready for him...

So now, he better check on Patterson. It was about time he knew what was that investment that he bragged about. Make sure that it was legal.

Sure, Patterson, as an old lawman would not do anything illegal, that's what he had told himself. Sure, and as an old lawman, Patterson would not stoop at blackmail

It was time that he stopped being a starry eyed kid around Patterson, and saw him as he really was, an embittered old man ready to strike back at those he thought had wronged him, and using his knowledge acquired in his job to do so.

He wanted to have Patterson tailed, and he thought that Derek was the man for it. Derek could no longer fly and vanish at will, but still, he knew how to observe. And Patterson did not know him, so he would not know he was being tailed. Derek had not resigned from his job, and he still needed money for that mythical salvage operation for the Russian Crown Jewels (a harebrained scheme if there was ever one). He would not turn down this job.

Derek was still at his old address. He wanted to move, but could not afford to. The grocery bills were too high, he complained...

Derek was outside in the cafe, enjoying this sunshine. To see him like this, you'd never guess that only a few months ago he had been a creature of darkness, chained to a coffin and to bloodlust... But even then Derek never fitted the stereotype.

And next to Derek was Patterson, talking animatedly, as they both looked at papers together.

What _that_ what Patterson was investing in?

* * *

Angelique stared at this conundrum. How do you prove a negative? She had retraced the journeys that Richard had made in his career as a Mossad agent. She laid them to a map, and then using the same map, he looked for any vampire presence along the trail. Had Richard been there at the same time as those other vampires? And if so, could she reconstruct the meeting?

Up to now she had not found such a meeting. Yes, there were vampires in the area, but never at the same time with Richard. So no interaction.

If Richard was telling the truth. A big _if_, as she tied to explain to Megan.

Megan refused to see that Richard might be a lost cause. From what she understood, Richard himself understood it, and only wanted to be dispatched quickly to spare Julia pain.

Of course, Julia's pain could turn into anger and need for revenge. That's why Megan had left town, and why she herself had done so. No one but George Brant could contact them, and then only in a real emergency.

Megan hated to lose, but this time, she might have to accept it. The ronin knew what they risked if they let a spy agency recruiter among their midst... And having been a slave to Nicholas in the short time that she had been a vampire beholden to him had made her realize how right they were to fear it.

If only Richard had been willing to turn over his handler... but that he refused to do. Unequal relationship that it was, cold-blooded as the handler was, they had gone through much together, and Richard did not want to buy his life with that of a man who was the closest thing to a friend that he had had for a long time.

So, she had to prove that Richard had never turned any vampire over to the Mossad. Or pointed the way for others to do it. Or...

It was a lost cause. Only Megan did not want to see it.

* * *

Sebastian Shaw concentrated. He could see the room, and the old man in it. The man was almost blind, but nothing escaped him. He could see the girl behind the old man, and there was an aura about this girl...

And then there was the younger man.

"Is he Adam?' Quentin asked.

"I am not sure. I can see the body, but the eyes are shadowed."

"Does it look like him?"

"I don't know. What does this Adam look like?"

Quentin was about to shout angrily, but he recognized that Sebastian had had little, if any contact with Adam. Had seen him at a distance, at most...

"Just tell me what you see." he said.

* * *

He could not move. The moment he recovered consciousness he knew that there was a cross lying over his heart, and that he could not leave his coffin.

He screamed in panic, Was he chained again, put away, forgotten?

The lid came up and he found himself facing a very grim faced George Brant.

"George, get this off me. Let me get up."

"No. You are going to stay there and I am going to tell you a few things."

"Why? What are you doing to me?"

'What Megan usually does, but since she is not here, I have taken over. We are going to talk you and I."

"George..."

"You were going to kill Jake. I came in just in time. I did not say anything because I did not want a confrontation. But I saw and heard enough. You _were_ going to kill him."

"I was.. You know what he did."

"Yes. I know. And there are laws on how to handle people who do what he did. He is not getting away with it. But that's not why you were going to kill him."

"Why?"

"Because this situation with Julia and Richard has you all tied up in knots. Because you are scared, and worried, and sad, and a lot of other painful emotions that you do not know how to handle properly. Not without killing someone. And I cannot have that. Collinsport cannot have that. You have to get out of the mindset that your being upset justifies killing."

"George..."

"Is that why you killed Nelle Guston? Yes, we gave you a pass because she was a Leviathan, and it was an act of war and you had received a great shock. But that was the last pass we gave you. .. Actually the last pass was Rumsen... Maybe we should not have given it to you, but... but well, it is done. But no more. You learn how to handle those ugly feelings without leaving a trail of corpses. If you do not..."

"If I don't; what will you do?"

"Shoot you. I am the sheriff, I have to protect the people of this town, and if that includes taking out a killer, I will. No matter how much I understand why he does it, not matter how much I love him, I _will_ take him out." he took his gun and pressed it against Barnabas's chest. "I will pull the trigger and end the menace to this town."

"You wouldn't!"

"I would. I know your past, Barnabas. I know how often you killed and whom. I know what we forgave you for. I know who we forgave you for. Do you remember Dave?"

"It is not the same."

"You were forgiven. But that forgiveness extends only to the past. It does not cover any future actions. After that, you are on your own. When Dave forgave you it had a proviso. _you do not kill again._ If you do, all deals are off."

"I know that I overstepped.."

"Overstepped? You were about to commit murder just to make yourself feel better. Do you know what you were throwing away? You live in a town that knows about you and accepts you. You have friends, people who trust you, people who look up to you. Think of all the blessings you have. You yourself called them blessings didn't you?"

'Yes." he recognized it.

"You have much to be thankful for. You have again a family, meaningful work, a place in society, good friends. And you were going to throw it all away because you feel down in the dumps because of Julia and Richard."

"It is not that."

"Barnabas, the free ride is over. You are going to stay like until tomorrow night. That will give you plenty of time to think about all that you were willing to throw away because of your temper tantrum. Think well about it. Do not say anything. I doubt that now you could say noting that was not an excuse. " He closed the lid and sat on top of it. He had arranged with Derek to relieve him. Barnabas had no hold on Derek and he could be trusted to stop anyone who wanted to release Barnabas...

Tough love, indeed.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Derek are you having Patterson as a partner in your business, or whatever you call it?" He asked, as he was ready to nap, and Derek replaced him to watch that no one tried to release Barnabas from his "rest cure".

"Sheriff, I do not see why you should care. I offered you a stake, and you did not want it. He does. And it is a legitimate business deal."

Was it his imagination of had Derek become more assertive now that he did not need to fear the sunlight?

"Not that it matters... It is just that I never could believe that story about Russian Crown jewels."

"It is true, anyway."

"Derek, you have a track record, and well, let's say that it does not inspire confidence."

"Yet you believed me enough on the matter of the drug smugglers."

"True, true. You are usually reliable... Unless there is a lot of money involved. Then you have been known to take crazy chances."

"Not always."

"Barnabas told me about that horse racing caper with Buffy."

"Well... Did he really tell you?"

"Yes."

"And you don't mind? you don't want to arrest me?"

"What for, giving me a belly laugh?... Derek, you are one of a kind... You know, when you were a vampire, we never worried that you'd turn anyone into a vampire. We worried about you turning them into bookies."

"But then, Elizabeth paid me."

"Yes."

"I gave her all my addresses, I explained to her how I managed... But..."

"But she thought she knew better. Poor Liz. And you, you just wanted to earn another dishonest buck..."

"Sheriff..."

George wrapped himself in the sleeping bag and prepared to sleep. "You know, about Patterson,, he used to be sheriff before me. It would be bad for the reputation of the office if he got ripped off... But considering how he goes out of his way to irritate me, I think that it would serve him right if you ripped him off."

"He is not going to be ripped off. You will see when we get the treasure out. Then you will be sorry you did not join us."

"So you say..." he turned in to sleep. "You know, anyone who comes, you wake me up. And you do not let him out either."

* * *

"That you were so willing to throw away."

Barnabas thought about the words. He was angry with George. Why did he accuse him of such things?

...Jake deserved it...

"That you were so willing to throw away.."

He could hear the easy banter between George and Derek... He wanted so much to join in the conversation... have a bit of fun... it was so lonely in here...

_...you do not kill again..._

Or the deal is off. No more forgiveness, no more acceptance, no more friendship. No more easy laughter, no more companionship...

No more family.

"That you were so willing to throw away..."

And for Jake... Jake that did not deserve it...

Why had he been so willing to kill? Where had he gotten that idea that another corpse would make things better?

Where had he got such a stupid idea?

He could lose everything he had striven to build over the years...

Why had he done it?

_You do not kill again._

No more excuses, no more forgiveness. Hunted down like a mad dog. Taken out by George Brant in performance of his duty...

_You do not kill again..._

* * *

.

Hallie shook her head at the central heating unit in her room. Yes, it delivered heat, and in a way it was connected to the power of Ra. But it was not a fireplace where she could stare at the flames and command them. Only if the presence of fire did her power reach its peak..

That would change once the child was born. Or after an appropriate sacrifice.

How long would it be between the birth and the time she stepped into the fire with her child? She did not wish it to take long. Later, maybe, she could enjoy raising children before they were offered, and the ones that pleased Ra, allowed to become phoenixes themselves. But this first child was only a means to an end. She wanted all the powers that Laura had. And as quickly as possible.

Let's suppose she set the apartment on fire. And added David to the sacrifice. Would that be enough?

No, she had to wait until the child was born.

It grated her to have to wait. She had so many plans, so many things that she wanted to do. Instead she had to sit in this room, trying to make ends meet with what little money she and David could scrape together...

She knew what palaces Laura inhabited. They would be hers by right. The silk, the gold, the beauty of it...

But not yet. She had to remain here yet.

* * *

"Anton" Zoya spoke to Adam "Will you do one thing for me?"

"What is it, cousin?"

"Grandfather's room. I think that there is something in there that wants to hurt him."

Adam's eyes widened. "Somebody? Who do you think it is?"

"I have felt it several times. A sense of danger, of foreboding..."

"Can you tell me who it is?"

"I can't but it seems centered in the cupboard that he has by his bed."

Suddenly Adam understood. "You mean the hand that he keeps there?"

'Petofi's hand." Zoya whispered ominously "Maybe Petofi is claiming it again."

"Petofi is dead. He was killed after we recovered the hand. We did it."

Zoya could not keep from smiling at _we_. As if Adam had actually been there. As if he was actually a gypsy. But then, part of him was, and the illusion was strong in him.

"His spirit may be coming back. And he might want revenge and use the hand for it. He could have that hand strangle grandfather..."

"It cannot be, cousin."

"We should make sure."

* * *

"You must cooperate with me. "Megan pleased with Richard. "You can give us your handler. Then they will trust you."

"I will not deliver him to you."

"why not? He exploited you. He lied to you. He..."

"He was the closest thing I had to a friend. And if he was warped by the kind of life he had to lead, so was I. "

"It would show goodwill.."

"If I let you kill him? Because that's what they want to do with him."

"They want to access the Mossad files. Learn how much they know about us. You give us this handler, and we will not kill him. Only make him give us the information we want. Information that might establish your innocence. Or could make them inclined to clemency."

Richard looked at her. "You hate to lose, don't you?"

"Yes. I do."

"And you insist on paying all your debts. And you realize that you owe me one."

Megan had to agree.

"Some debts are impossible to pay. What do you say if I tell you forget it, you don't owe me, and don't fight for me anymore?"

"Mr. Zimmerman..."

"Ms. Graham, please." he touched her shoulder. "It is not that I am not grateful for your efforts. I am. But I know what the future holds and I have accepted it. I know that it is hopeless."

"But we are not done yet! There are things that we can do!" Megan protested "there has to be!"

"There is no possible defense. The only evidence was my thoughts and feelings. My ignorance about other vampires... That is not much of a proof."

"No, I do not accept it."

"You have done all you could possibly do. Don't feel bad about it."

"It is not that! It is then principle of the thing!"

"Ms. Graham. Megan." Richard caressed her shoulder. "look at me."

Megan did.

"I am sorry to be the one failure in your life. I am sorry for what it is doing to you."

"It is not that."

Richard kissed her on the mouth.

She pulled back. "Mr. Zimmerman..."

"This is the only thing that you can do for me now. You are lovely, Megan. Is it so wrong for me to love you?"

"You love me?"

"Is it so strange?"

"I... I can't have any ,long term relationships ..." then she was aware to whom she was saying this to.

"Neither can I, for a different reason. And I so repulsive to you, then?"

"You are not. It just seems wrong."

"Why? Is it wrong to make a dying man happy? To give him something to look forward to in his last days? Lie with me, Megan. Let us love each other."

"It would not work."

'Not in the long run. But we don't have a long run to worry about." he kissed her again. "You owe me, Megan. why not pay off your debt this way? Why not on my terms instead of yours?"

Megan could not answer that. Richard embraced her again, and this time she did not protest.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Julia walked the halls of Wyncliffe. She wanted to see Richard and she was not allowed to... Richard would be executed and she could not see him.

Protecting her child... that was the excuse they gave her. She offered to bring a cross if needs be, but they had told her that it was not protection enough. That a number of them were immune and not all of them would restrain themselves...

She wanted to see Richard, and was not allowed to...

If only she could scream at Barnabas. But it was daytime and he was asleep, at the Old House, since he had left earlier to avoid more confrontations.

So she was alone with her anguish and fury.

She came upon the bed where Nunez lay, curled into a fetal position, his eyes blank.

"You." she said venomously "Why should I care for you? Why should I try to make you well? When I can't help my own, why should I do anything for you?"

Nunez did not answer. He could not. Blindly Julia struck at him and Nunez did not respond to the blow.

Julia stood stunned. She had actually struck a patient. And gotten away with it...

Nunez deserved it. And more. It made her feel good...

She struck him again.

* * *

"Derek Pearce of all people!" George could barely conceal his amusement to Patterson.

"I can't see what you got against him. You employ him after all."

"He is a hustler, and without common sense. Yes, he has a good nature, and has been useful to me in more than one occasion. But he cannot be trusted with money... And Russian Crown Jewels.. who'd believe it?

"I do. I checked the records. There were Russian aristocrats among the rumrunners then, just as he described."

"I imagine they were. But holding on to Crown Jewels? They are more likely to have used them to buy the boat... If they were desperate enough to go for a life of crime, they must not have had many jewels left."

"Well, I believe it. And it is my money."

"It is my money to. I have been giving it to you, and I do not like it when you waste it in Derek's fantasies."

"Well, I thought you gave me money out of the goodness of your heart."

George looked at Patterson wearily. "It wasn't purely the goodness of my heart."

"So I gathered the way you reacted when I mentioned Doc Woodard. I was right about him, wasn't I? He was that way, after all."

George went very pale. "Please explain what you mean by 'that way'."

"A faggot."

Well, it was said, and it did not hurt as much as it could have.

"Yes, he was gay..."

"A faggot."

George looked at Patterson up and down. "I used to admire you, Patterson." he said softly. "And now I see that I wasted my admiration. There is nothing to admire in you, and that is a pity."

"I don't care, as long as you continue paying."

"And if I don't"

"I will tell everybody about you and the Doc."

"I see." he got up. "I hope that Derek takes you for every cent you own."

* * *

Adam walked into the room. Zoya was worryiing needlessly. Petofi was dead, had been dead for years. Why should he now try to recover his hand?

Yet it was better to check on it.

He felt slightly guilty about this. Senaking in while his father slept.

But it was done out of concern, not desire to harm or steal. Not like Magda, the thief.

Still he felt an ominous weight on his shoulders as he undid the locks and exposed the hand to the light.

The hand, all dried out, looking pale under the light...

Adam felt dizzy. He had seen this hand before... or had he?

"Anton." he heard Zoya's voice in his mind. "Don't be afraid. Take the hand."

Adam rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his mind. It was something important, something the had to do...

He took the hand, He could not understand why he was doing it. Only that he had to.

Zoya knew that he had done it. Let him run away with it. She would stay behind. She would not become an outcast, the way Magda had. Later on, she would meet Adam on her own and take the hand away. They would never suspect her of it.

* * *

As night fell, George let Barnabas out. "Do you feel better now?" he asked.

"I had time to think." Barnabas said.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not yet... It was a lot to think about."

"Good. I be t you are hungry." he opened his collar. "Go ahead."

Barnabas did

"Just remember that because Megan is gone does not mean that you can do as you want. I am here to administer tough love when you need it." said quietly as Barnabas fed.

Finally Barnabas let go. "I was a fool.." he said.

"Was? Barnabas. one day you will stop being a fool, but I do not expect it to be any time soon."

Barnabas smiled. "But you love me anyway. Which means that you are another fool."

"Yes."

Barnabas became serious again.

"It is Richard." he said. "He does not think that he will make out of it alive. He only wants to be executed quickly, for Julia's sake."

"I can see his point."

"But he is innocent!"

"He probably is, but he recognizes that innocence does not count... They are protecting themselves... and I know what they are protecting themselves from."

"They call themselves ronin."

"Yes. the ronin. Masterless. Wandering the world on their own. But these ronin have no desire to have a master over them."

"They told me some of the stories of what the sorcerers commanded them to do. They were instruments of terror then."

"Not by choice. They had no choice. Obey or be punished. They got a bad reputation from that time, That's where the more lurid stories come from. They were the enforcers, in a very brutal time. Did you meet any of them, who was there, who remember how it was?"

"No."

"Megan has, and they told her enough to give her nightmares. What was done to them, what they had them do... Some got to liking it...A lot got killed... but there were those who had a chance for better life, and they took it... I am sorry for Julia, for what she is going through. But they have a right to be afraid of what Richard represents. The spy agencies might not be as nasty as the old sorcerers, but they are nasty enough. They will not be sold into slavery, no matter what the cost."

"I want to help Julia. There has to be a way to save Richard..."

* * *

"Baby" Angelique said. "Don't let it get to you."

Megan shook her head. How could she tell Angelique that she had had sex with Richard, that she was falling in love with him?

Having sex did not matter. She did it every day. It was a need, just like blood. It was her falling in love that she could not speak of. Could one person love two people at the same time?... She had not thought of it. In spite of her own promiscuity she did not think it possible. She loved only one person at a time, no matter what she had to do.

She had loved Phillip, then fallen under Jeb Hawkes' spell. Briefly, she had wanted Barnabas, but she still loved Phillip... Then there had been the long time of mourning Phillip, and her infatuation with Elmer Urrey because he looked like him...

It was over with Phillip now. Even if he was found, he had a wife a child of his own. And she had cast her lot with Angelique... She wanted Angelique, she loved her...

And she loved Richard too...

How could that be?

* * *

He _had_ been a fool, Barnabas thought. George had been right. He had been willing to throw away what he valued most for the sake of what was basically a temper tantrum. Whatever Jake deserved, murdering him was not the thing to do.

He recalled the days in which death and guilt went hand in hand. He tore himself up because of the killings, and he killed to make himself feel a bit better... did not work. It had led to his imprisonment in the chained coffin... It had led to his being bricked up by Trask - twice. It had let to his being hunted by his turn of the century relatives. It had led to the near destruction of his dearest friend...

He killed to make himself feel better, and it only made things much worse...

Why couldn't he have figured it out sooner. He was a fool... Yes, he had the excuse that he was under the compulsion of the old witch doctor's curse, in the slave ship. But still, it had left him with a taste for killing. And now, with no compulsion over him, it was just a bad habit that he had to get rid of.

Fortunately George had stopped him in time... He had not shown away this second chance he had been given..

Of course, there had been Norma, but that was a genuine accident. He had wanted to save her, her and the child. It was a hostage situation, and those sometimes go wrong... He had wanted Norma to live,, and when he could not, he had turned against Nunez, trying somehow to make it right... And he could not.

There was a beating of wings next to him. He turned, and saw Veronica, who had abducted Richard.

"You! What do you want?"

"A message from Cecily. Verhoff is determined to kill Richard, no matter how much innocent he is. No mater what Megan does or tries, he will be executed. His only chance is to escape."

"And you tell me this?"

"You are the one who allowed me to grow. You gave us Dr Hoffman's notes. We are all in our debt. And Verhoff knows that it was Dr. Hoffman's notes. He wants to get revenge on her by killing Richard. You must help him escape."

"You do not think that the is guilty?"

"He's convinced me. But Verhoff does not care. He is Julia's cousin and must die for it."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

He did not know what to tell Julia. Did she need to know what she was up against? Did he need to give her a reason to blame herself?

What he had to do was to plan for an escape. And for that he needed Angelique, not Julia.

But he had to see her again. Even if she were to abuse her again. That night that he had spend cut off from everyone, made him realize how much other people mattered to him. And the one that mattered most was Julia. He had to be with her...

He stopped the car and went into Wyncliffe. Yes, he had to make plans with Angelique. But first he had to see Julia.

He found her, at Nunez bedside. Found her slapping the unconscious man.

"Julia, stop!" he said to her, grabbing her hand.

"Why do you care? You do not care about Richard, evidently. But you care about _him_. About this piece of garbage."

"Julia, if anyone else saw you, it would cost you. You could lose your license for this."

"No, I won't. I may be reprimanded, and have to take time off to rest."

"Julia, you are risking too much and for what?"

She looked at him. "What did you do with Jake?"

"Megan took him away."

"Megan! Yes, It is not enough that she takes Richard from me, that she delivers him to his executioners. She comes and takes my staff away."

"Julia, whatever you are going through, it won't get better because you do this. You risk too much, and it will not solve anything."

"It makes me feel better. What do you want me to do, to watch him being killed and smile and say nothing? I already went through that with you once, and I want no more of it."

Richard had been right. This was bringing back the old bitterness.

"Hitting him changes nothing." he managed to say.

"Well, have you got any better ideas? Some way to spring Richard out?"

"I am working on some ideas about that. I want to talk to Angelique about it..."

"You want to spring him?"

"I think that it is time that we planned a jailbreak for him. I will talk to Angelique, and we'll see what can be done."

Julia let herself be led out. "Please, leave him alone, Julia." Barnabas pleaded with her. "think of how much you could lose. Do you want to lose Wyncliffe? It may cost you that."

Julia nodded. "All right, I will keep away from him."

When Julia was gone, Barnabas went back to look at Nunez. He could understand why Julia wanted to hit him... It was the same impulse that made him want to kill Jake. He hoped that he had shocked her back into reality, as George had done with him...

He could understand why she did it. Richard was to die, while Nunez went on living... if you could call it living.. no, just existing, vegetating...

And it had been someone like Nunez who had destroyed Richard's family. And Julia's. Why should he lived while Richard died?

Nunez did not deserve to live. Richard did not deserve to die... but that was how it worked out.

* * *

Zoya had failed to show up. Hallie had summoned her again, and again Zoya had not answered the call.

Instead she had sent the same excuses, which now were wearing thin.

Zoya was planning some run for freedom. Perhaps she was even plotting how to destroy her.

Hallie's mouth twisted. She recalled Laura's fate. There was little chance that Zoya would succeed, yet...

It was about time that Zoya was sacrificed to Ra,

* * *

Adam held the hand close to his chest. It felt warm. And cold at the same time.

And something else.

He remembered his father. His face was before him... But it was not truly his face... there was another face, another man. A _gadjo_, and he was his father too. And not his father...

And another man. And a woman. They were not his parents, either, but...

Other faces came to him. A blonde woman... and yet more faces...

They came and left, and he could not shake them off.

And the thought came to him. Collinsport. He had to go back to Collinsport.

* * *

Angelique wondered. Was she being unreasonably jealous? And jealous of a man who had not long to live? Of course, Megan was emotionally wrapped up on him, but that was to be expected. Megan did not like to lose, and she did not like to leave unpaid debts behind. She owed Zimmerman a debt, and she could not discharge it.

But that did not mean that she was falling in love with him... that he and Megan had made love...

And even if they did, what would that prove? Megan went to bed with men regularly. She had to.

But this time it would be different. It was not the same, she knew. If Richard and Megan were lovers, what would she do?"

Her fists tightened. She recalled Josette, Roxanne, any woman who dared to set herself between her and Barnabas...

But that had been obsession of her part. And she was cured of it.

And with Richard she would not have to do anything. They would kill him, anyway, without her help.

Maybe that was what attracted Megan. A doomed man, gallantly awaiting his fate. A romantic fling, with a most romantic setting, out of an old movie...

Barnabas arrival interrupted her thoughts.

"How did you know how to find me?" she asked "Of course, George told you."

"I need you help, Angelique." Barnabas said softly.

"What do you need me for?"

"Richard. I want to save him."

"Megan is doing her best."

"She cannot. Verhoff will have him killed not matter what, as revenge against me and Julia."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"We need to have him escape."

"He many not be willing to do. From what I understand he is resigned to his fate."

"But Julia is not. It is tearing her inside."

"I do not know if I want him free. I suspect that he and Megan are lovers."

"Megan sleeps with everyone, including me. She has to."

'Yes, that's what I try to tell myself. But it is more than that."

"And you are willing to let him die just to keep Megan? I thought you had left that part of you behind."

"It is not the same! The mess that he is in is of his own making!"

"And you wash off your hands off him?"

"You can't understand that?"

"I thought like that myself not so long ago. It was not easy for me to let Vicky go with Peter, but I did it, in the end."

"I am not so noble as you are."

"You know, even if he and Megan are lovers, it does not mean that it is for keeps. Remember it is a highly charged emotional situation. Very romantic. A big romantic doomed kind of love. She will stay with him to the bitter end, and then she will mourn him, and then she will heal, and then, she will go back to you."

"yes, that's what I try to tell myself. But if he escapes..."

"If he escapes, there is no reason for Megan to know where he went... not really. And it would not be doomed romantic love anymore... her common sense will assert itself."

"So I try to tell myself."

"I am doing this for Julia... please tell me that you will at least consider it."

* * *

"Collinsport" Sebastian Shaw said. "I see someone going to Collinsport."

"Is that someone Adam?" Quentin asked.

"He is not in Collinsport yet. He is going there. He wants to be there."

"Can't you see if it is Adam or not?"

Sebastian shook his head. "He could be. He somehow wants to know who he is... He wants to be who he was..."

"Can it be Adam?"

"He might be. I cannot sense Adam... this stranger, he seems to lack the awareness of who he is... "

If Adam had lost his memory...

"He might be..." Sebastian repeated. "He wants his memory back and is going to Collinsport for it."

Quentin gulped. "Where is he?"

"On the road. I can't see more clearly. And there are those who are hunting him."

"He is in danger, then?"

"Yes."

"I have to help him, then. Get him to Collinsport safely. Bring him back to Carolyn. He wants to go back to her... Where is he?"

"I don't know." Sebastian admitted. "I can tell that he is going to Collinsport, but nothing more."

Quentin looked impatiently around. :"I have to find him, don't you understand? He gave me a whole new life. I can't abandon him now."

"I am doing my best."

Quentin stood up. "There has to be a way." he stared at Sebastian. "If I took you along, could you point the way?"

Sebastian shook his head, but without conviction.

'You could find the way, couldn't you?" You could come with me."

Sebastian did not answer.

"I don't have the money, but Carolyn will pay you well. She'll be grateful to you for this."

Sebastian did not answer. He'd have to go to Collinsport. After what happened there. Go to Collinsport., see Angelique again...

"Come with me." Quentin insisted. "We'll find him. We'll take him home safely."

Sebastian shook his head again.

"What you mean, no?"

"I can't leave here."

"I told you, Carolyn will reward you well."

"It is not that."

"Not that? What then?""

"I don't want to go back to Collinsport. They will not want to see me again, specially Angelique."

"I do not think that Angelique will blame you for what was not your fault. You just fell under Zachary's spell, as I did."

'No, she will never forgive me."

"Come, Sebastian, I need your help."

"No!" This time Sebastian was angry. "I've had it with you people. I don't want to see any more of you! Wasn't it bad enough that you killed Roxie? Am I supposed to forget it and pitch in the next time one of you gets in trouble? Find a way out on your own. I am not apart of it anymore. I don't want to know any more about your troubles.!"

"Damn it!" Quentin was losing his patience fast. "You just won't help?"

"That's right."

"Then you force me to do this." Quentin said, pointing a gun at Sebastian. "I need your help, and you are coming with me. You have no right to deny me your help."

"Have you a permit for that gun?"

"I have the bullets for it."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Sebastian grumbled. "You can get arrested, you know that? Kidnapping is a crime, and crossing state lines, which you are doing now, makes it a Federal crime."

"You will be well paid for your trouble, I told you. Now point me the way. the sooner we find Adam, the sooner you can get back to your palmist shop."

"I am not a palmist!" Sebastian protested. "I am a psychic. A student of astrology."

Whatever. Jus help me, and you can be on your way."

"I should have never gone to Collinsport. I had a new life, away from you. Why did I have to go back for?"

"You didn't see it in your crystal ball?"

"I told you. I don't use a crystal ball. And I don't read palms, nor tea leaves. I am a _psychic_.!

"All right, then, you are a psychic. Now, Mr. Psychic, what road should we take?" Quentin pointed his gun at Sebastian. "And if you try running me in circles, or attracting police attention, you'll regret it."

"I won't" Sebastian said wearily. "I know how dangerous you people can be."

"Good. Where should se go now?"

* * *

Adam curled up on the ground. It was cold and he did not have enough clothing on. He shivered, wondering what he should do about it.

There were motels around. Yet something in him warned him about them, or places like that. He was not sure why.

There was snow on the ground. He managed to clear a patch of ground, so that he would not be resting on ice.

Maybe he could make a fire. It would help... But no, they were looking for him.. they would see the fire and catch him.

He no longer was sure what his name was. Something insisted that he was Anton Romano. But something else kept repeating the name "Adam." And other names came. Barnabas Collins. Charles Delaware Tate. Was his name Charles?

He was a painter... he could almost remember the feel of brushes in his hands, the look of canvas, the smell of pain. But what did Anton Romano know of painting?

He held the hand close to his chest. It felt warm. Maybe he could use it to keep the cold away.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Tammy... Tammy. " Barnabas answered, cradling the phone. " Why should I mind?"

"Our getting married just now. While you have this trouble.

"And what would you do? Wait until there is no more trouble? Hope that we will have some quiet times around here, so you can get married in peace and quite?"

"No, but with the way Julia's acting, with the way you are feeling..."

Tammy, don't expect me to become animated all of a sudden. I do, occasionally, but lately the occasions are few and far between. I just like to brood a lot."

"But the situation."

"Is not going to get any better for a while. You cannot postpone your plans because of that. If everybody did that, nothing would get done in town."

"It seems wrong, though.."

"Why? Because of Violet? Because of Jake?"

"He set Violet free on purpose, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"And now it is my fault that Iris..."

"Tammy, Jake made his own choices. And nothing _nothing_ you could have done would justify such a major breach of professional ethics. He wanted to be a therapist. Well, he's blown his chance. That's all there is to it."

"It seems my fault..."

"Will you stop letting Jake emotionally manipulate you? He did it because he wanted to. Because his hurt pride mattered to him most. He chose, and he is lucky that he is not in jail...Tammy, go ahead and marry Joe. It does not have to be big wedding, thought your relatives may insist on it. You may have to leave me out... I am too weird for their taste. Marry and be happy."

"I know that you are right."

"Then get married, and do not worry about this mess. It really has nothing to do with you."

He went down the corridor, and entered Nunez' room. He wondered why he kept coming back here, what did he expect to find.

Nunez would live while Richard would die...

It was not like that. Nunez had nothing to do with Richard trouble... Except that it had been men like Nunez that had led Richard down this path that ended in being executed by his own kind...

And could Nunez, in his catatonic state be said to live?

Still...

There was a beginning of a thought there...

He heard Julia's steps entering the room. He did not turn.

"So you are back here?" she asked, coldly.

"Julia, I am sorry..."

"And to think that I loved you. Think about that;. That I could have loved the likes of you."

"It was not me you loved." Barnabas said, dully.

"Yes. And you are not like him at all. You are not good enough."

"I know."

"But I would not see it. I let you deceive me."

"You deceived yourself first. I just went along... another one of my shameful actions in my mad days..."

"And I believed it! I actually thought that you could be like Richard! I even sacrificed Dave to you... but Richard would have never asked that of me. I was a fool!"

Barnabas nodded. Yes, she had to say those things. And better that it be him who bore the brunt of her bitterness, and not Kenneth.

"Do you want me to resign? do you want me to go away and never to return?"

She said nothing.

"My resignation is yours for the asking."

"Resign?" she shook her head. "You think that if you resign things will get better?"

"They might, for you, at least."

"I told you, You leave only when I fire you."

"Will you fire me?"

"And let you off the hook so easily? No way. You are going to stay and listen to me."

Yes, that was more like it. She had done this before and he knew that he could deal with it. He had not expected any less. Richard meant that much to her...

He looked a Nunez again, and a germ of an idea began for form in his mind.

* * *

Did Angelique suspect about Richard and her, Megan wondered. She could not be sure. She did not know if she felt guilty about it, nor why she wanted so much to keep it secret. She went to men regularly. It was her nature, her needs. Why should Richard be any different from her other one-night-stands?

True, they were not supposed to last. But then, with Richard, it would end by death.

No, she did not want it to end that way. She wanted to prove him innocent and have him released...

And if he was released, what would she do? Would he have to choose between him and Angelique?

Richard had to live, she reminded herself. She must save him. Afterwards...

She would worry afterwards...

* * *

So Patterson was Derek's pigeon. Angelique smiled as she recalled the gossip that Brant had passed to her. Derek was going to fleece a former sheriff of Collinsport... Well, there was a logic to that.

It was good to talk with Brant, and laugh a bit. She was a bit weary of the eternal tragedy that Megan and Barnabas trailed around her. Sometimes she felt that she was trapped into an grand opera, the ones in which everyone dies at the end, but not before they tenor and the soprano sang interminable arias about how tragic the situation was...

She needed to laugh... she needed some balance in her life...

And she needed to come up with a way to help Richard escape.

She was not sure she could do it. Or that she wanted to. She had begun to suspect that Megan's interest was not out of concern for Julia, or desire to settle an unpaid debt...

But the most important point was that even if she allowed him to escape, Richard would be a hunted man. And the next time they caught up with him, they would not bother with trials, they would just kill him outright. And they _would_ catch up with him.

So, if they were to leave him alone, they would have to believe that he was dead...

Was there a way that Richard could be seen to have been executed, but remain alive?


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"I can feel him close by." Sebastian said.

"Do you?" Quentin felt impatient. He suspected that Sebastian was giving him the runaround, looking for a chance to break free. He pulled out the gun and played with it.

If Sebastian saw him do it, he did not react. He knew what his position was. He had to find Adam and get out quick. He did not intend to hang around Quentin any more than he had to.

He sensed Adam's presence close enough. He could almost swear that he was just next to them. But he would not say aloud, because if he was wrong Quentin would take it very badly.

"Are you sure that this is the way?" Quentin asked.

"I sense somebody. It might be Adam. You realize that it is difficult for me to identify him. I sense a disturbance in his sense of identity. He's not sure of who he really is."

Quentin agreed silently this time. Sebastian was right in that. If Adam had lost his memory of his own name, then reaching him would be a problem. Maybe he should give Sebastian more credit and stop playing with his gun.

The problem was that he could not trust Sebastian at all.

"Beyond those trees. I am sure that he is there."

Quentin wondered about it, but he followed Sebastian.

"There, in the clearing." Sebastian pointed at what seemed a pile of garbage. Or another homeless man...

"Adam!" Quentin ran to him. "Adam, get up! Don't sleep here!"

Adam opened his eyes, warily.

"You'll freeze to death here." Quentin tried to get him to stand up. "Come, we'll put you in a warm bed."

Adam let himself be lifted. He seemed to recognize the man lifting him. He wondered if he was the one he was running away from...

No, it could not be him...

"Help me with him, Sebastian. We have to get him to shelter."

* * *

"I am laying my cards on the table" Angelique told Barnabas before he could open his mouth. "Richard and Megan are having an affair. To rescue him as you want means that they can run away together."

"You have no proof that they do."

"Barnabas" she was impatient. "Don't waste my time. I do know. "

"You know how it is with Megan."

"Yes, I know. And I know that this is time more than one of her one-night-stands. She is emotionally involved."

"He is dying and there is little that she can do for him. Except love him."

"Very romantic. Well, do you want to hear my proposition or not?"

"What do you propose?"

"I already determined that Richard needs to be seen to die, if he is not to be hunted. In other words, I want to do the doppelganger bit, as I did with you in 1897. Substitute him for a doppelganger. And for that I will need you, as I am not allowed inside the place where they keep him. "

"I can do that."

"It meant being alone with him, putting a spell of misdirection, unpacking the doppelganger,, releasing Richard from the chain, and putting the chain on the doppelganger."

"I can do that." Barnabas repeated.

"There is a problem. The doppelganger has to be so convincing that he will fool everyone. And I mean everyone. We are not talking about a body lying on its back, with its eyes closed, which fooled Charity or Quentin, who is not the most observant of men, nor a deception that deflected Laura's power. If it had been Laura in the room watching 'me' burn instead of Quentin, she would not have been fooled. It may strain my powers to the outmost to manage it."

"But you think you can do it?"

"I can try. The only condition that I set on him is that Megan never knows that he escaped. Let her mourn him. She is out of town, and not lately to talk to Julia, so I think we can keep it a secret. Are you willing?"

"I am."

* * *

Richard wrote a letter to Julia. He was not sure when, or if, it would get delivered. He hoped that they would see to it. He could entrust Megan with it, but Megan did not want to hear of his dying. She kept fooling herself that she could get him off...

'Dear Julia:

My child, my cousin, my daughter, my pride and my joy. I love you.

It worries me that you suffer on my account. I did not wish for it to happen. Maybe I should have stayed away, but I missed you , and I did not know of Barnabas nor the others. I thought it would be safe... I was wrong. Forgive me for this distress I am causing you.

I will not protest my innocence again. I can't blame them for not believing me. If the positions were reversed I would do exactly as they are about to do. And for me, innocence is a relative term. I am not guilty of this particular offense, but I am guilty of others for which I was never punished. I believed that I was justified when I committed those deeds. As they are justified in killing me. So it evens out.

They have every right to execute me for what I did to Cosmo.

Jewel, my baby, don't hate them. Don't distress yourself. I have had a full life. I have had much joy, and you were a great part of that joy. Please, don't spoil it by blighting your life and your child's life because of me.

Don't hate Barnabas nor Megan, please. They are doing their best to save my neck. I try to tell them it is useless, but they don't believe me. Please be kind to Barnabas. He has a good heart, though I cannot vouch for his head.

I am going to die, Jewel. I have accepted it. It no longer holds bitterness to me. All that remains is a clarity that I want to share with you.

I love you Jewel. I love the little girl that I raised, and the woman you became. And yet I put a burden on you... When I took you in, I needed you as much as you needed me. I had lost too much and I expected you to make up for it... Perhaps I asked too much of child. I never saw just you.. I saw Albrecht, your father. I saw Gretchen, your mother, on whom I had a schoolboy crush. I saw all of my family. I saw my father, my mother, my aunts, my uncles, my cousins, my brother... I wanted you to be all of them for me. And you could not.. I made you overly dependent on me.

It is not easy to raise a child when you put such a burden on her. But for all of my mistakes, I love you.

Julia, I wish only the best for you, Kenneth, and your baby. Live and be happy.

Love

Richard.

* * *

"Thanks for coming to see me... Typho.:" said as welcome to a man whose haunted eyes belied his youthful appearance.

"Do not call me that.' the man answered. "I am known as Calvin... I prefer the name."

"I can understand. Typho was the name your master gave you.."

"Yes. I was a sorcerer's slave. Why do you bring it back?"

"Because there are too many that have no idea what such slavery meant. What it does."

Calvin/Typho sank on the couch. "I try to forget it and I cannot. Typho. Named after a plague, a disease that killed indiscriminately... An instrument of terror to keep the peasants in line, accepting their lot."

"Yet in the end you fought for their freedom and your own."

"For my freedom. They were free too, but it was not my struggle. They never accepted me. How could they?.. Not after what my master made me do...He made us commit atrocities for this reason. Not only to terrify the peasants but to make it impossible for us to revolt, because if we did, we would find no friends... Do you know the scene in Bran Stoker's book where Dracula brings a baby to feed his 'brides''? He made us do that. Not to feed any of us... he preferred to keep us hungry so that we rampaged when he released us... No, to sacrifice in magical rites. He would cut its throat and let it bleed slowly. And, if we were obedient enough, he'd let us lap it."

"And now there is this new slavery. The spy agencies are targeting vampires for enslavement. Again."

"No!"

"We are going to try a traitor. One who would deliver his fellows to the spy agency that owns him. By his own admission, he joined that agency voluntarily. He claims the agency did not know what he was..."

Calvin snorted at that. "Of course they knew."

"And that he did not deliver anyone to them. Of course, he covered his tracks well, and we have trouble finding proof of it."

"Proof? What do you need proof for? He joined voluntarily. Let him die for it."

"There are too many sentimental ones who believe him. Too many who have not known slavery and do not understand the enormity of this man's crime. I need your help to remind them of what happened."

"I will help you in any way you wish."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

He was in a warm bed, Adam realized.. It felt so good, to feel the cold leave his hands and ears. And it was dry, not the dampness that bled of f the head from his body. He had been found and he was safe. He slept on.

"Why would he be doing that?" Sebastian wondered. "He had money on him. He could have come to the motel on his own. Why sleep on the ground?"

Quentin said nothing. He had seen Petofi's hand. So he had been right, after all. Adam had gotten himself into trouble.

How could he? Didn't he know better? He had read Petofi's diary, hadn't he?

Damn it, how stupid can you get?

Or how desperate? Maybe he _had_ to have Petofi's hand. because nothing else would help him.

But why desperate? When he had left Collinsport, tings seemed to go all right for Adam. He had wanted to marry Carolyn, and that was about to happen. They why run off Collinsport, hunting for the hand, and making enemies of the Romano tribe?

A man does not abandon what he fights hard to get without a reason.

Of course, that was what he wanted before he finished his own portrait. Maybe after he was done with it something that he had not intended to be there had caught up with him.

Yes, maybe that was it. m Adam had recreated himself and the new Adam was not like the old, and the new Adam wanted Petofi's hand for reasons that made no sense to the old Adam.

Anyway, there was more trouble ahead. The hand was a disaster waiting to happen. If it worked for you, fine, but most likely it wouldn't. All it could get you is killed by the gypsies.

Adam could tell him the whole story when he woke up. But until then, he had to make a decision of what to do next.

One thing for sure, he could not let Sebastian go. The gypsies might kill him as an accomplice to the theft. Oh he could betray them... Sebastian had to remain with her until this was over.

* * *

"Megan, you are so beautiful, so soft." Richard rested his hand on Megan's shoulder, playing with her hair. "It feels so good to have you here."

"Richard..." Megan did not know what to say. That it felt good to have him? But it did not. Because even if she did not look at it, she was aware of the chain at his ankle and of the sentence that she was trying hopelessly to avert.

"Don't be sad, Megan."

"I am not sad."

"You are, you keep thinking of how it is going to end."

"It does not have to end."

"It will end. I know that you hate to lose, my love. But this one you can't win. There are things that not even you can win and this is one of them. We don't have much time. Let's make the most of it."

"I try, but..."

"I am not sad, Megan. don't you be for my sake. I have had enough of life. I can let it go without regrets."

He kissed her on the lips, deeply.

"I love you, Megan. I want you for as long as I can have you. Let's have each other and not worry about tomorrow."

* * *

Tammy and Joe were married at last. They had considered holding the wedding at night, but as Reverend Trask had pointed out. Barnabas still could not get inside the church. He would just stay outside, and would feel his exclusion a lot more than if he got up at dusk to find them married.

At least Urien was there, with a proper excuse for Barnabas' absence. He had to be in Wyncliffe for a crisis that arose there... The bride's family did not find that unusual. After all, it was not as if the man was a close relative. And their memory of him was tainted by the tragedy that had taken place at the engagement party...

George 's mind wandered, as he looked at the walls of the church. It was an old church. Barnabas' parents had been married there. Sarah and Barnabas had been baptized there, too... Barnabas had helped carry Sarah in her christening robe... Barnabas had told him. He tried to imagine how it had been.

Had things been different, Barnabas and Josette would have married here.

But things were different. The past was past and would not return...

He looked at Tammy. He recalled how she had been when she had come to Collinsport, an angry woman, sure that her new positions was to be the token black. She had been quite insufferable then, to tell the truth... But that seemed so long ago. Tammy had seen and lived things that she did not know existed - she had ended up in a place where racial hatred and racial prejudice were the least of her problems. Not that it did not exist, mind you, but compared to an attempted invasion by time traveling reptilian creatures, they were quite trivial...

Was Tammy grateful or resentful for bringing her to Collinsport? Probably Tammy herself did not know.

* * *

There had to be a way to save Richard, if only for Julia's sake...

It hurt Barnabas to see Julia like this. It was as bad now as it had been with Dave. Only then he could do something, while this was out of his hands...

Richard had given up. He had said that it was no use.

Megan could not get him off, no matter how she pleaded or whatever proof she offered. Verhoff would see to it that he died...

All his hopes were now on Angelique's doppelganger. Which as Angelique said, might not be good enough to fool Richard's captors...

It was a slender hope at best...

He saw again Richard's eyes when he said that the sooner it was over, the better it would be for everybody, Julia included. but still there ought to be something else. some kind of a solution that he was missing.

If only he was smarter, he'd find a way to save Richard and Julia...

Could he talk to them? Plead? He knew so little about them... He had had very little experience with other vampires. It had not occurred to him that they might band together for mutual protection and that they would make laws for themselves, with penalties for breaking them...

That they would have capital crimes.

He knew Verhoff and did not like him much. The dislike was mutual. He knew Megan, who was gasping at straws. He knew Derek, who even if he was still a vampire, would not be listened to. As for Roxanne...

Roxanne had been executed for the same crime as Richard.

Yet there must be a solution. Some way out, someone willing to give Richard a chance.

He knew that it was a pipe dream. No one would. Even if they believed in Richard's innocence, they w0uld not be willing to run the risk. Richard could do too much damage.

It was up to him, and he was stuck. He never had much in the way of brains. He had plenty of goodwill and recklessness. But that was not enough...

He entered Nunez' room. Nunez was not responsive, but that made him a good listener...

He did miss Comet he realized. He had been a good dog. He could have made something of that dog, but he had gotten impatient, and now he had a catatonic patient who was no use to anybody..

Another regret to add to his collection.

He poured his misgivings about Richard to Nunez, who listened patiently without pointing out all his mistakes, all the missed opportunities...

Nunez was the perfect listener/ He did not rub salt in the wound like others...

He had meant well when he had taken him to Old Munsungan. He wanted him to have a whole life, and chance to learn how to be human... But he had miscalculated. Or done it too soon. It had been a short cut, prodded by George, and his own, impatience. He had been impatient too, and had let himself be pushed by George...

He wanted to believe that Nunez would come out of it, but had come to realize that it was not likely. Nunez had lied to himself too much, and was not ready yet to learn about himself... Nunez was his responsibility, and he had failed it.

Failed. As he would fail with Richard...

One more failure added to his long list

If he could only rescue something out of this mess. If he could come up with some answer.

If...

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...

If, - one of the saddest words in the English language.

If he could see the answer...


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Megan closed her eyes as Richard kissed her.

"Are you saying that I should let it happen?' she still protested.

"You can't keep it from happening. Just accept of it and make the best of it."

She shivered as he opened her blouse and caressed her. She felt a delicious weakness creep on her. No one had made feel like this. Not Phillip. Not Angelique... She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him hungrily.

"I want to keep you with me forever." she whispered.

Inwardly Richard knew that it was not true. The role of love slave was not for her. She could indulge her fantasy for a while with him, knowing that it would not last. But truly forever? Not her, not Megan Graham. She did it now, she played at being the pliant slave because she knew very well who wore the chain at the ankle.

If things had been different, it they had all the time in the world, would this be possible? Not likely.

They kissed each other. Richard had her down on the ground, holding her tenderly.

"Yes," he thought, a bit bitterly "you come here to live your fantasies. You use me this way. And I will use you to get what I want. We play games with each other...

* * *

He must be going crazy, Barnabas thought, to consider it.

But he could not keep thinking that it was the solution. It would save Richard and Julia...

But Nunez...

He had noting to do with it, he should not be involved. But what did he have? Years and years of being basically a vegetable? Nunez would do nothing with he time he was granted. While if someone took that time, he might make something of himself...

If Richard had the time that Nunez had... If he could make Julia smile at him again...

Still, was he justified? He was thinking of buying Richard life with that of Nunez'... Trading one life for another.

Playing God...

As if this was the first time he did it...

* * *

Quentin knew that the had to do something. Adam had pneumonia. Sebastian would insist on leaving soon. And the gypsies would come soon with their knives.

He had to get to Collinsport. There he would get help. From Angelique, or Megan, or Barnabas...

But he had to get to Collinsport first, and Adam was not in shape to be moved.

Unless he used Petofi's hand, either as a weapon, or to heal Adam.

If he knew how to use it.

He had watched Magda do it. And Tim Shaw, he had been able to use it, too.

He took the hand and held it over Adam's head. He was going to gamble, all right. But the situation could hardly be any worse.

He put the hand over Adam's chest, hoping that it would clear his lungs and return him to health.

Adam coughed a bit, then seemed to calm down. He opened his eyes,

"Quentin, is that you?"

"Yes, Adam it is me."

"Adam?... Yes, my name is Adam, not Anton Romano.

"Anton Romano?"

"I thought that I was Anton. The old man said... yes, I remember now. He said that part of me was Anton's, and that I should be him. Then he got the hand and I... I went blank."

"He made you be Anton."

"Yes."

"You got in trouble, all right. What made you go after Petofi's hand? I thought that you knew better than that."

"I had to. I could not fix my portrait again. And Angelique refused to help. She told me that Julia could do it better than she could. But I would not go to Julia. I would not owe her or Barnabas anything."

"Maybe you should have. You somehow got the wrong character traits in your portrait, is that it?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. And Julia's a good psychiatrist. She could help you a lot. Much better than getting yourself involved in this mess with this hand. do you know what the did to Petofi? Why did you gamble like this?"

"It seemed the thing to do. And" Adam sounded angry. "How could you understand?"

"I understand all right. I found you freezing to death in the snow. You already got pneumonia, and I hope that the hand took care of it. I know what kind of trouble this hand can cause me. Did I tell you of it? How it disfigured me and made me lose my memory? Did I tell you what it did to Evan Hanley, and how it tried to strange Magda? Damn it, why did you choose to play Russian Roulette with it? Is this worth your pride that you choose this instead of asking Julia for help? And it does not have to be Julia. There are plenty of psychiatrist around. all you have to do is look in the Yellow pages. Damn it, how could you be s _dumb_? Even I, at my worst..."

"Quentin..." Adam pleaded.

"Listen to me, Adam Deale Atwater. You got a big chip on your shoulder, and maybe you have a right to resent Julia and Barnabas. God knows that I don't like them very much. But to get yourself in this kind of trouble, and involve me in the bargain...

"I did not ask you to come rescue me."

"I had to, Damn it! I owe you something and I will not deny my duty. But there are other people involved, like Sebastian, who have nothing to do with it and should not have to."

"Huh" Sebastian said. "You said that it would be all right. That I would have no problems."

"I did not know what I was getting into... what I was getting you into." Quentin grimaced "I am sorry. I should have thought more about it."

"So now I am going to be shot at! Just because you don't think ahead!"

"You are not going to get shot."

"No, I am going to get my throat cut."

"I will protect you."

"And who will protect you? Him? That hand?"

"We can try to protect each other. Look, Sebastian, I am sorry, but now we are in this together and we need each other's help to survive."

* * *

Was he really wrong? What good this his life do to Nunez? He would never get better. And this was a chance to help Julia. Julia and her baby. Julia was so close to delivery, she did not need this stress...

Nunez could not give his consent to it... It would be taking advantage of him.

Yet Nunez himself owed a debt that he could not repay. What better way than this?

This was Nunez last chance at redemption.

Yet it was wrong. Nunez could not give consent. And he had rights...

But what good this his rights to do him? He would not get off that bed, ever...

Nunez had lost his life already. Why not let him make something out of his death?

But he had to give consent... And he could not.

But there was a way that he could give it... A way that he could be told, made to understand that his was his last chance at redemption, and be asked if he wanted to...

* * *

'Well, what's the plan?" Sebastian asked peevishly.

"Adam has been telling me all he knows, which is pitifully little. He met a gypsy fortune teller who said that her tribe could help him. And he got the idea of somehow stealing the hand. Some half-baked idea." Quentin snorted. "Adam has gotten too stupid to believe."

"And then he was made to believe that he was Anton Romano."

"Yes. But still remembered to steal the hand... Oh, Adam... Adam.. You were lucky that we found you. You would very likely have frozen to death in the snow. One more homeless man freezing out there... "

"We can try to get to Collinsport" Adam offered.

"Yes. If we can get there in one piece. Damn it, by now the whole tribe is looking for us. And they all carry knives."

"I know what they did to Petofi."

"And still went after the hand... Adam... Adam..."

"Can that hand make us invisible?" Sebastian asked.

"What?"

"Can the hand make us invisible? Then we could get to Collinsport safely."

"No, I don't think it can."

"What about changing our appearance?" Sebastian insisted. "You said it disfigured you.."

Well, that was an idea.

He put the hand over Adam's face and saw its features change. A rounder face, bald, not like Adam at all. A familiar face.

He did it with Sebastian. Also a familiar face... He put the hand on himself.

"Moe!" Sebastian shrieked. "You look like Moe Howard! And Adam looks like Curly!" he turned to the mirror. "I look like Larry Fine! You turned us into the Three Stooges!"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nunez had to consent. That would somehow make it right. Even if Nunez could barely understand what he was consenting to, what it would mean.

Barnabas twiddled his thumbs. He understood now why people smoked. It gave them something to do with their hands. He had not noticed before how unwieldy hands could be, when there was something that had to be done, when you itched to do it, but could not get started.

He wanted desperately to save Richard and Julia. He could not save Nunez. It was as simple as that. And Nunez would have a chance to redeem himself.

He was trading Nunez' life for Richard's. That's what it amounted to.

It was better than the doppelganger which, Angelique had said, could not fool the people it was supposed to fool.

He was sure that Angelique would not put any ethical complaints about it. She was, in this, more practical than he. And this way it would be a simple matter to keep him and Megan apart.

The problem was George. He had told him, point blank, no more killing.

And he was basically going to kill Nunez...

He had had time to think of all that he could lose, if George decided that this was the killing that broke the compact, that allowed him the comfortable existence that he enjoyed...

But he could not watch Julia as she saw, when he could save her.

Nunez was his patient. He had bungled with him already. Did he need any more of it? How would that lighten his load?

It all came down to being able to get consent out of Nunez. Because with all he knew about him, he was still a human being...

On the other hand, Norma would rest easier if this was done.

Nunez did not have a future, not anymore...

He had already killed Nunez when he had taken him to Munsungan. All that was left of him was an unburied body...

Excuses, excuses..

Was he willing to save Richard or not? That's what it boiled down to. At any price?

At this price.

* * *

Ms. Graham, I need to talk to you.

Megan shook her head.. She did not like to talk with Verhoff. But she had to. Any chance to get Richard off, she had to take.

But it was not good news that was coming.

"Whatever you wish, Doctor Verhoff."

She was always careful to call him doctor. There was plenty of vanity in him, and it did not good to ignore it.

"We found a witness who will testify that Richard tried to recruit him. Only that he was savvy enough, and disappeared before they closed in."

"It cannot be! He never told them what he was... they never asked him to..."

"It is true."

"Who is this witness?"

"Calvin Hoess."

"When? Where? By what name was he going by in those days? If Richard is going to answer, I need to know the details."

"Miss Graham, your client lies to you, and you do not know it. You usually are a smart woman. Why have you allowed him to make a fool out of you?"

"I know that he is not lying. I want to find out more about it... Can I talk with this Calvin Hoess?"

"Yes, you can. He can make you aware of what a fool you are."

Calvin Hoess - also know as Typho - came in.

"You are letting your emotions rule you, Ms. Graham." he said. "Just because you are having an affair with you does not mean that he does not lie to you. "

"You are the one who is lying"

Calvin shrugged. "I am not an agent of a spy agency who has spent years manipulating others. I am not the one who turned people into assets. You have no idea of how these people manipulate others, day in and day out. They promise friendship. Or love. But none of it is real... They just use people for information, make them run risks, lie to them, and shrug it off when they get killed. And replace them. For them there are no people, just means to be used. And your 'friend' has been doing it too long. I would not trust anything he said or did."

'You are wrong. and we all have manipulated people, don't we? How else do we feed?"

"Do not compare a chance encounter, with someone who loses a few minutes of his time, along with some blood, with the deliberate use and abuse of people who trust them. I can tell you how they deal with their assets, as they call those they catch in their webs, with lies deception, blackmail, and threats. One thing I can say, in the end they do not treat vampires any worse than they treat other assets. They are all expendable pawns in the game they play with each other."

"Others have broken free of spy agencies. We have accepted them."

"Yes, if they fulfilled our conditions. They all turned in their handlers, and were happy to do so. They told everything they knew, and let us know more about how these people operate. Richard Zimmerman has refused to name his handler, has he not?"

"He says that it is the closest thing he has to a friend."

"It means that his primary loyalty is to the Mossad, no more no less. He will not betray it. Which means that he can betray us any moment, as he feels no loyalty towards us. "

"It is friendship. He believes that you will kill him."

"There is nothing wrong with forming an attachment to a normal human... impossible to avoid sometimes, given the intimate nature of feeding. But if that human becomes a threat, it is our duty to neutralize it. This rarely means killing. Making them forget or putting a mental block works fine. But a handler, no. A handler has to die. And if Richard cannot understand the reason why. If he cannot understand the danger he puts us through, if he does not care what that might happen to us, then he has condemned himself."

"You are wrong about him."

"You do not know what it is to be a slave. Too many vampires have not had the experience. I will tell of it. I will recount what is the lot of an enslaved vampire. I will tell them what it is to be used to terrify people into abject compliance. I will make them aware that the freedom that they enjoy is hard won."

"And because of it, you are willing to lie. You will lie to doom Richard."

He shrugged. "Typho has done much worse. And I will do whatever it takes not to be Typho again."

* * *

Nunez had to consent.

Would that make it all right?

Right or not, he had to do it this way. That was why he was taking Nunez to Old Munsungan. Maybe the old man could break through, make he see what was at stake, make it see that it was his last chance at redemption...

And if he did not consent, what then?

He had already made his decision. He would never sacrifice Julia to his scruples... If Nunez did not consent, he would do it anyway.

And whatever fallout came his way, he would handle it.

He moved towards Munsugan, carrying Nunez in his arms.

He felt a small shock as Munsungan touched him. Munsungan had the power to let him see too deeply into himself, and he did not want that now.

"I bring him to you." he explained. "I have made a decision, and I want him to know of it."

Munsungan turned to Nunez, touched him, and began to murmured what sounded like a prayer.

And Nunez' eyes were no longer empty.

"Nunez, do you recognize me?

Nunez nodded.

"Listen to me, Nunez..."

He explained it. What he needed Nunez for and what would happen to him.

"Do you understand what it means?"

Nunez nodded.

Barnabas shivered, unwilling to look into Nunez' eyes. "And.." he gathered courage. "Are you willing?'

Three seconds. four, five... Nunez did not move. He did not nod and he did not shake his head... Just stood there, as if thinking...

Barnabas felt cold sweat in him. What right did he have to do this?

Then, slowly, Nunez nodded. Once.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"It is over." Megan said to Barnabas. "there will be a trial, and they will find guilty with false testimony. And before the week is over, they will kill him."

Barnabas nodded.

"So, it you have a plan, then it is up to you. I have done all I could. It is over... I can only watch him fight, and lose, and then get killed.. Which is what he wanted from the start."

"He said that to me."

"I should have listened... That's why he seduced me... I just realized it."

"What you mean?"

"When I tried to plead for him they told me that of course, since we were lovers, my judgment was clouded by emotion. So I could not be expected to see the truth..."

"Well, it is not wise for a lawyer to sleep with his or her client."

"Yes... But I realize it. That's why he seduced me. To discredit me...Because he wanted to die quickly."

"He said it the whole time. And I can see why. He wanted to spare Julia the agony of waiting."

'He... he manipulated me. I did not realize it... But he has been manipulating others in his job. Why not me?"

"Well, all he is getting out of this manipulation is a death sentence. Don't blame him too much."

"But I fell in love with him.. and he just... used me."

Barnabas did not want to comment on Megan's self deception. She had known from the start that Richard could not be helped, but she went on. She could have seen through Richard's manipulation, if she had not wanted to be manipulated. Guilt feelings? Vanity about always paying her debts? Also it was a very romantic situation, which allowed her to indulge in a great romantic passion...

So Richard had manipulated her. For Julia's sake, to spare her the long wait, to stop feeding on false hope... It was always Julia with Richard... And if Megan thought that she could change that, then she had been a fool...

"I... I wish I could be angry with him, so I could say that he's getting what he deserves... But he only manipulated me because he wants it to end... Will you go to the trial?"

"Yes... He may need at least a friend face there."

* * *

"He wants to use a doppelganger" Angelique told Verhoff "He wants to switch one for Zimmerman., and let you kill the doppelganger while Zimmerman escapes.. He asked my help for it, and when I denied it, he decided to try it by himself."

"You turned him down? May I ask why? And why are you betraying him now?"

"Isn't it obvious. Megan is having an affair with Zimmerman.. If he escapes, he is free to continue that affair."

"And you do not want that."

"I am Megan's lover. I do not want her to keep at it. The men that she needs to bite are one thing. But this one I want dead. I want to make sure that he never gets his hands on Megan again."

* * *

"We don't have much time." Barnabas told Richard.

"No. At least I don't. I appreciate your coming. How's Julia?"

"I have not seen her for several days. She refuses to see me now."

"It is sad. She is going to need you. I tried to tell her that... That she should not blame you."

"I had no idea that they were laying a trap for you."

"I believe you. I always did. You would never hurt Julia. Not that badly again."

"Megan's hurt, too."

"Yes, she probably figured out why I seduced her. Her pride is wounded... I do not really think that it was me she loved... just the very romantic set-up... but she is good people, and I had to hurt her... Well, that's something that I did again and again... I am not proud of the things I did for the Mossad... There is a reason why I wanted to get out of it. I am sorry about Megan. Tell her that she is a very desirable woman, and that I would have liked to have an affair with her for real..."

"She is hurt, but she will recover."

"She she will."

Barnabas came closer to Richard. "Richard I can save you."

"No, you can't"

"Listen to me, there is a way."

"I will not run away. If I do, they'll come after me and Julia will become a target. All they have to do is threaten her life, and I will have to surrender.."

"Not if you are declared dead. Then they would not look for you."

"So they kill me, and I escape?"

"It is foolproof."

"Forgive me, Mr. Collins, but you do not have a good record of foolproof plans."

"It can be done."

"It can't"

"Are you tried of life?" Barnabas was irritated now.

"Maybe I am."

"And you want to play the world-weary role, saying goodbye with a grand gesture."

Richard looked at him very calmly. "I am not one of your patients, so you don't have to analyze me."

"No. But I will do it, anyway. I am trying to give you a chance."

"That will not work."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because I know what I am against, and you don't"

The door opened and Verhoff came in, followed by Joe Integlia one of the enforcers.

"Come with us, Mr. Collins." Verhoff said, as Integlia seized him. "We are arresting you."

"What for?" Integlia was fast. Before Barnabas could react he had slipped manacles on him. Manacles of the same treated metal that kept Richard from vanishing..

"Attempting to help a prisoner escape. We know about your plan. We know that you plan to substitute a doppelganger for Mr. Zimmerman. It would not have worked, anyway."

"How... How did you know?"

"What do you think? Angelique does not like to have her lover leave her for Zimmerman. So she told us what you were planning. "We are sorry, but you are going to be locked up until this is finished."

Barnabas resisted, but Integlia dragged him away.

"Thanks for trying." Richard said, as they took him away. "But as I told you, it is no use."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"We ought to have turned left." Sebastian said.

"Right! I told you to turn left, moron." Quentin slapped the back of Adam's head.

Adam tried to swerve and managed to hit a tree.

"What now, genius?" Quentin slapped Adam, who turned, and as he did, tore out the steering wheel.

"Look what you did! Put it back! Put it back!"

Sebastian tried to help Adam put it back, and his foot kicked a hole in the car door.

"You morons!" Quentin slapped both of them in the same swerve..

"I am a victim of circoimstance" Adam whined...

Evidently, Sebastian thought, Not only they looked like the Stooges. They were going to behave like the Stooges all the way to Collinsport...

* * *

They were going to try him. now. A mere formality. How long between the trial and execution? A few days at most.

If they were merciful, they would execute him immediately.

His mind returned to Cosmo. Poor, misguided, romantic Cosmo. How did he pay for refusing to live in the real world... He had not deserved his fate...

But then very few in that time deserved what they got... Cosmo was one more victim...

One for which he was directly responsible.

Cosmo had given him the means to fight back against the murderers of his family and his people. And how had he repaid him?

He had known. He had set him up. When he had returned, to check that he had erased his traces, he had not expected to find him still alive. He had not expected having to finish him off..

He was going to pay now for Cosmo. And for all the other ones that he had manipulated for "a greater good".

He hoped that it would be quick...

* * *

Frances Jackson had her instructions. She was to keep Nunez under heavy sedation until Barnabas returned. Barnabas had told her to do that, and was gone. She could not contact him, had no idea of where he was.

All she knew was that he had gotten her into Wyncliffe, to keep watch over Nunez "make sure that Julia does not try to kill him" he had told her. And to keep him sedated.

She knew of the strain that Dr. Hoffman's was under, and tahat it would get much worse in the next few hours..

And she had to wait until Barnabas came back...

* * *

Julia stood by the clock. She knew that the trial would take place today. And the execution would follow quickly. They had allowed her to know that. And also what did she know of Barnabas' plan to replace him with a doppelganger. They had been convinced that she had not known of it and left her alone.

Alone with the knowledge that by tomorrow Richard would be dead.

She saw Richard again. Tall, handsome, strong, taking her in his arms.

"No one will hurt you, Julia. I will take care of you..."

She had been only a little girl. And his arms were a safe refuge for her. Holding her, protecting her, playing with her...

She had grown, until the day they stood side by side and she was only a bit shorter than he was. Yet, she would always be his little girl.

And one day he was gone. For she was too old to be someone's little girl. Because it was time that she was her own woman. He had come to see her at Medical School every not and then, but it was not the same. She finally figured out that his condition was a rare done, and wanted to find a cure for it, to restore his cousin to normality. He had shrugged off, telling her that normality had lost its attraction for him long ago, that vampirism was by no means the worst that had happened to him.

She had kept at it, hoping that one day, when he returned, she would be able to give it to him as a present.. But he did not come. It was Barnabas who received the result of her studies. It was because of Richard that she kept giving second chances, and thirds, and fourths, to Barnabas. Why she had stuck with him.

And now Richard would die... Barnabas had tried to save him, but he had failed. He had not thought it out.

She wanted to hate Barnabas for it. And for his not having been Richard when she wanted him to be.

But how could se? She saw again Barnabas' face when Zeb had finished beating him up, his expression when he had given her the whip, telling her to use it on him...

No, Barnabas was not Richard, could never be. But he was Barnabas..

She looked at the clock again. Not much time left before dawn... They had said something about a crossbow...

Would it be quick? Would it be painful? Her hand went to her own heart, thinking of a bolt piercing it.

It would be quick if they hit the heart. If they did not miss.

"Oh, Richard, why did you come back?" she moaned.

* * *

The trial moved swiftly. Megan tried to offer proof of his not having enticed anyone into his ugly murky world. But Calvin's false testimony had settled the issue. He had looked straight ahead, with a most disingenuous look on his face and lied like a Templar...

His gaze had caught Richard's, and as their eyes locked, Richard felt a sense of kinship. Calvin was like him, he thought.

There were heart wrenching testimonies, from vampires who had been caught in the webs of intrigue of diverse spy agencies, and managed to escape. These narratives of manipulation, threats, and ugly choices woke dark memories in him.

It was called asset management. Because you could not call them people, you had to call them assets, to keep yourself from realizing what you were doing. He had learned how to keep an asset quiet and producing. How to work him, how to induce him to do what was needed, using lies, deception, blackmail, threats. Anything that was required..

He had done it often enough. It was justified, he had believed it. Maybe it was. But he never had to face the victims. Now he did. Now he could see the despair, the outrage, that were left in his wake...

... And the ones who were induced to kill, or help in a killing... no, he had not done that. But only because he had not been asked to.

...It was for a good cause. It was for Israel's survival. It was payback for the Holocaust... It was whatever excuse he needed to feel good about himself when men and women were turned into faceless, manipulable assets...

Maybe he deserved execution.

Then it was Calvin's testimony. One of those who had lived under the sorcerers, one who had been a slave then.

He had recounted his existence as Typho, the ruthless enforcer of the sorcerer, whose name was whispered in dread by the peasants, who was cursed, and reviled by those who lived in dread of him. They did not know how Typho was himself a slave of the sorcerer, whose least disobedience was punished cruelly.

He acknowledged all the dark deeds that he had committed them, had shown how much the terror that vampires created then fueled the legends and nightmares for centuries ahead... The movies offered only a pale echo of what they had done then.

Richard looked at Calvin again, and this time he understood the kinship that he fell. Both he and Calvin had looked at absolute evil, both had been tainted by it, both had escaped it. And both were willing to do anything to keep it from returning...

And if that meant a false testimony to condemn someone who might be innocent to death, so be it.

Did Calvin think him innocent? He would not get to ask the question... But he knew what he would do in a similar situation with someone who might be innocent, but who might also be a threat...

He had lived with that logic long enough. He had obeyed and enforced the code too many times.

Now it would be enforced on him.

So be it.

It did not take long. The verdict was guilty, and the sentence was death.

"You will be executed in a couple of hours. If you want to make any last dispositions, do so."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Can I be there?" Barnabas pleaded with his captors.

Mary Overstreet shook his head. "There is no point in your attending the execution. You can't save him. We don't want you to try again."

"I know that I can't. But I want to be there."

"Why would you want that?'

"To.. to be with him. All others hate or fear him. There has to be someone there who is willing to be his friend. It would make him less lonely."

Mary shook her head again.

"You can keep me handcuffed, if you are afraid that I will try anything. Please. Let me be there. Let me be able to tell Julia afterwards that here was not pain, that it was quick."

Mary seemed to relent. "I will talk to the others. Maybe they will allow you to be there."

* * *

Frances looked at Nunez. Something was about to happen, she sensed it...

* * *

They allowed Barnabas to go. He was chained, with guards. No chance of his doing anything. If he wanted to watch Richard die, then let him...

He managed to sit down. It was difficult for him to move because of the chains, but he bore it patiently. He just wanted to be there.

He saw Megan, who looked ahead, flinty eyed. She hated to lose, and she had lost. She was not sure now if she had truly loved Richard, or had just been caught in the romanticism of the situation. In any case, she did now want him to die, but still had to watch him being killed...

Richard was led into the room, shackled, just as Barnabas was, but more securely.

"Do you want to say anything?" he was asked.

He spoke to Barnabas. "Only that I am sorry that I was the occasion for so many people being hurt. It was never my intention to bring pain to you, nor to drive a wedge between you and Julia. Tell her that I love her."

Barnabas smiled feebly. "I wish I could wish you good luck."

"Why, wish it. For, who knows, I might need it where I am going."

He was secured to a post to the end of the room. They spoke to him and he shook his head. So even here they had the ritual of offering a blindfold, Barnabas thought. They were traditionalists enough..

He wondered about Angelique. Could she do this right? Would she fail? Would she want to fail?

It was to be done with a crossbow. Someone stood in front of Richard, and lifted the weapon. No way that he would miss the heart at such a short distance...

The wire of the crossbow was stretched, while the shooter took aim. Then it was released.

The bolt speared Richard's chest, shattering flesh and bone as it cut through.

Richard's head slumped just before the body began to decompose and disintegrate...

Had there been something in Richard's eyes just before the bolt struck?

* * *

Nunez sat bolt upright in his bed, staring fixedly, with a surprised expression in his face.

Frances, as she had been instructed, sedated him. Then she recorded it in her chart...

When would Barnabas come back?.

* * *

Richard's body, or what was left of it, hung from the chains that bound it to the post.

Barnabas wondered. Had the transfer taken place? He dared not hope for it..

His own shackles were removed. There was no danger now of his trying to rescue Richard. They were polite about it, but never apologetic. It needed doing and they did it.

He looked at the body and felt a know in his throat. Was that Nunez or Richard? In either case, the answer held sadness for him. If he had saved Richard it had been at the cost of Nunez' life. He had failed with Nunez... Nunez could have still been reached...He could still have made something of himself.

But he would never speak those regrets aloud. That had been the deal he had made when he got Angelique to agree. He would hold to it.

He moved towards the post.. While it was fast decomposing, they were taking no chances. They were cutting off the head, and it nauseated him.

"It is a pity that it had to end like this." he commented. "He had much to offer."

"Maybe he had. Maybe it was we ourselves who would have been offered by him."

The head had fallen. It was now a bare skull, with some hair sticking to it. Barnabas touched it. A last contact. Saying goodbye to Richard... Or apologizing to Nunez... he did not know which...

"It had to be done, Collins. Even he did recognize it."

"He did not recognize him. He just didn't know how to fight it."

"Comes about to the same thing."

* * *

Nunez slept, a deep drugged sleep. Or rather Nunez' body. Frances could see something in the expression of the sleeping face that she had not seen before... Or maybe it was just a fancy of hers...

* * *

Megan and Angelique could barely face each other, not out of anger, but out of fear of betraying themselves. Megan, her ferocity spent, was now mourning for Richard, as she had meant to., but she did not want Angelique to see this.

Angelique had her own reasons to be wary... She did not want Megan to know that Richard was still alive.

Richard had hurt her, yes, Megan realized. But she had loved him. And in a way he may have loved her... She had seen him die. And if Richard had manipulated her, it was to get himself killed quickly, sparing himself and Julia the agony of waiting...

She sobbed, as she recalled the bolt cutting through his chest.

"You could not have saved him." Angelique said. "no one could. He wanted to die."

"And this makes it all right?"

"I don't know. " Angelique said dully. "But that's the way it is, and we cannot change it."

* * *

Angelique had assured him that it had worked. yet not until Nunez woke up would he believe it. And he would not tell Julia of it until he was sure of it.

He saw again the body decomposing, hanging from the chains, still dripping the last drops of blood... Julia would never know of that, if he could help it...

He had had some Dutch courage before coming in, but not enough.

Julia stared at him. She said nothing. He knew what she wanted to ask him and dared not.

"He suffered no pain." he said. "they made it quick."

She said something. He could not make out what.

"I am sorry, Julia. I wish I could have saved him."

She said again something that he did not understand, then turned her face and wept.

He passed her by. He had to see Nunez. He had to be able to tell her that Richard was alive.

He raced to the room. Frances was there, at the bedside. She handed him the chart,

He saw that he had sat up suddenly. Checked the time. About the same time that the bolt had been fired...

It might have worked. But the sedation had to wear off before he cold be sure.

He let Frances rest while he waited. He twiddled his thumbs, studying the patterns on the floor...

He wondered if Frances would be bothered by Nunez' fate. He had not told her what he meant to do. The less she knew, the less she could give away. The story, that she had to keep Dr Hoffman from murdering a patient in her distress was a good enough cover... and probably needed. Verhoff and the others had believed that he planned to substitute a doppelganger, and once they had foiled that plot they did should not have looked for other plots...

He hoped...

What would Frances say to what he had made her an accomplice to? Would her unshakeable loyalty crack because of this? ... It was not different that doing a heart transplant when the donor was brain dead...

But Nunez was not brain dead...

They drug had began to wear off. But it was still too early to tell. When the eyes opened and focused, who would it be looking out from them? He hoped it would be Richard...

Finally it was time. Intelligence was returning to the eyes. The breathing was more regular, less forced. Yet, did it feel like Richard?"

There were sounds of steps approaching.

"Barnabas?" Julia said. "Are you there?'

"Yes."

She looked at Nunez with hatred. "Why here? he's not going to change, not today, not tomorrow, not ever. And he lives while Richard... while Richard... He has no right to live."

He felt torn. In a few moments he could answer her, but he did not dare. Not yet. Just a few more seconds... minutes...

"Leave him." she was weeping now. "Maybe I will do what you stopped me last time. This time you won't interfere."

"Julia" he tried to take her in his arms, but she repulsed him. "Julia, don't cry."

"I will cry if I want to."

'Jewel, don't cry."

It was not Barnabas who said it. It was Nunez. Yet Julia, wrapped up in her pain did not recognize it.

Barnabas went to Nunez' bed. He had done it! "Julia, look at him, listen to him."

There was no mistaking the awakening man now. The face was Nunez's but the expression on it was Richard's.

"What... what am I doing here?" he asked, confused. He looked at Barnabas. "What did you do?"

"Richard Zimmerman is dead. They have the body to prove it. And you got a new body and face. New fingerprints too."

"But..."

Julia stared, not sure of what she was seeing or hearing.

"You...you... she said. "you are..."

"Jewel" Richard said with tenderness.

"You are Richard.."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Julia was calm now. And Richard had gotten his bearings back. If he still protested, his heart wasn't in it.

"You mean that Nunez died instead of him?" Julia asked Barnabas.

"Yes. I felt uneasy about it. Even if he was doing nothing with his life, even if he never would.. But the alternative was watching you suffer and well... I made up my mind. I tried to make him know what I was about to do and why."

"And he did?"

"Yes. He... seemed to accept it. Was glad of it, in a way. He could not cope with life. He had at last a way to make it count. I don't express myself well, only that it was a solution for him as well as it was for us."

"He died for me, is that it?" Richard asked with wonderment. "the fascist son-of-bitch died for me."

'Yes. Maybe that will count for him. I tried to give him a new life and the chance to make up for his past. He had that." he grimaced "But I feel guilty about it, nevertheless."

'Yes. I imagine you would." Richard thought for a moment. "What now for me?"

"For one thing, you are not a vampire anymore. You have a new face and a new identity. You are a patient of Julia's who was admitted catatonic and with no clue to his identity. That makes for a new start. I got to pass on a message from Angelique: don't try to contact Megan, let her believe that you are dead, or it will go badly for you."

"I can do that."

"Also forget about your former associates. If they are still around, they won't recognize you, anyway."

"Fair enough. I was that I was done with that. And tell Angelique not to worry about me and Megan. It was not serious for either of us... And tell her that I am very grateful:"

"I will, as soon as I figure out where they went."

"Are they gone?"

"Yes. they left town as soon as this trouble started. I could be in contact with Angelique, enough to set it up, but now she severed it. Megan is covering her tracks, as she decided to get off the grid."

"Why does she want that?"

"I do not know, but she wants it."

"Well, if they ever cross out paths again, I might get the chance to thank her."

"Well, " Barnabas got up. "I think that you and Julia have a lot to talk about. And you don't need me for it."

And as he got up, he prayed for Nunez, that the should be able to find peace, after making this possible for them.

* * *

Megan checked her numbers. She had all she needed in cash. She had emptied her account, and taken a substantial portion out of the agency account, and the money she had put towards Vicky's adult school. Not taken too much. The agency and the school would be in for some tough times, but nothing that they could not handle. And she had pointed new clients for both of them.

In exchange, she had mailed the titles of property to both Joe and Tammy, and to Vicky. They were now the sole proprietors of their enterprises.

They would have to make it on their own.

Between than and the gold that she had stashed away over the years, she had enough to start somewhere else.

And if it was not enough, she could always resort to helping herself to the wallets of the men she drank from. It was not something that she enjoyed, buy she knew how to do it, if the occasion warranted it.

It was not leaving that worried her. She had left town before. It was the severing of ties, the disappearing as if by magic.

But, she knew, sooner or later vampires had to get off the grid completely and disappear. She should consider it as a dry run for when she really had to escape fast.. At this moment she was only running away from Julia's wrath, and while Julia could be very dangerous in her mental state, she did not have the knowledge of how to track her down. There would be others much more dangerous, more determined, and more savvy on tracking fugitive vampires.

The life of a ronin never is easy... But it is worth it.

* * *

"All right. I did it." Barnabas admitted to George. "I know what you are going to say. I know what you threatened... But I could not let Julia go on as she was doing. Say that I had no right to do it. But do not try telling Julia that she has no right to have Richard with her, that his cousin's life was stolen, and he has no right to it, even if there is no way to return it to its original owner."

George sighed. "This has been a frightful mess from day one. One questionable decision after another. I do not know how it should have ended up. I guess I am just glad that it is over and done for. And that something good came of it."

"So you are all right with it?"

"Yes, Richard, Nunez, or whatever he calls himself, can remain where she is, and decide how to get a new life."

"Thanks." He gathered his courage. "I know what you said about me, what would happen if I killed again... and I did... I killed Nunez... Will you do as you threatened?"

George sighed again. "This was not like with Jake. It was not a casual killing, one done because you were out of sorts, It was based on a questionable decision, but it was not casual... And... and you had already killed Norma when I said that. That was no casual killing either And this is part of it. There is a difference... I cannot point out what it is, but there is. And because of that, and because it was just the last act of a tragedy that began miles away from here, I just want to forget the whole thing. Let both Nunez and Norma rest. Let they figure out any form of retribution or reconciliation where they are. I just want to be out of it."

"So you won't turn me away."

George caught Barnabas' head and kissed him. "Not for a long while."

* * *

Joe wondered as to what had happened to the bank account for the agency. He recalled the latest bank statement, and suddenly it was considerably down.

He scratched his head, trying to figure out where the money was gone. He was going to the bank to check on the cash flow, to see what had happened.

He only got halfway to the door, when Tammy came in. "It is ours." she said, waving the property documents. "the agency is ours. Megan sent the paperwork . Said that she sold it to us, and took the price out of the account. She also signed us a new client."

Of course, Joe thought. The agency was Megan's, and if she had to leave she needed ready cash, not a link through which she could be traced.

Well, the money loss was substantial. But he and Tammy could make it.

It was their agency now.

* * *

What will Richard do with his new life? And what about Quentin, Adam, and Sebasttian? Will they be the Three Stooges forever or will they regain their normal shapes? Will the gypsies reclaim Petofi's hand? Will Zoya escape Hallie?

Stay tuned...


End file.
